I recently had a problem; a ticking or clicking noise when applying the brakes. It seemed to be coming from the driver’s side front, so I pulled the wheel off and had a look…no apparent issues there. The sound was clearly related to vehicle speed, but seemed off (actually faster) than tire rotation. Hmm.
So, I had the wife drive by on the street and apply brakes so I could pinpoint the sound. Well guess what..it wasn’t coming from the brakes..it was coming from under the vehicle, about midway under the passenger door. I poked around, and the only possibility I saw was an aluminum housing surrounding the driveshaft as it entered the transmission (not sure of part name; anyone care to fill me in?)
I could see the aluminum shroud wasn’t quite centered, and was about 1mm away on one side / 4mm on the other. I took a screw driver and applied mechanical agitation until it looked right.
I drove down the street and enjoyed the silence.
Note that I had the driveshaft replaced under warranty a couple years ago; it was warped and causing vibration so the dealership changed everything out. May or may not be related…
2007 Prerunner double cab.